


Lapis

by MidoriKurenaiYume



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arguing, Dialogue, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Fluff, Parenthood, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-02-22 16:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13170969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriKurenaiYume/pseuds/MidoriKurenaiYume
Summary: Having a grown-up daughter could be more worrisome than having a teenage one, as Gilgamesh found out.Luckily, his beloved wife was always there to reason - and occasionally argue - with him.





	1. Should the night come as usual

**Author's Note:**

> Only warning is that Arturia and Gilgamesh are aged up considerably, since they have a grown-up child. Slightly based on my real-life experiences.
> 
> Title: from a Kalafina song, B-side of their 16th single. The chapters' titles are lyrics from the song, credit for the translation goes to the canta-per-me forum ;)

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...

…

Gilgamesh’s eyes were piercing the people at the party, and therefore keeping everyone at adequate distance from where he was sitting.

Arturia held back a sigh, used to her husband’s antics as he glared daggers at the young man currently dancing with their daughter.

“Gilgamesh, will you calm down? Rin and Shirou have been together for a couple of years now, and right now, they’re only _dancing_.”

“He’s a mongrel,” was his cutting reply, and this time, Arturia raised an eyebrow, exasperated.

“Oh, not again, please. Gilgamesh, we’ve had this conversation before. He’s nice, inoffensive, unobtrusive and polite.”

“The faithful description of a rather common mongrel,” was Gilgamesh’s flat conclusion.

She only sighed. Trying to convince him like this was useless, therefore she glanced at the clock and stood up.

“I’ll go excuse us from our hosts, so that we can retire to the rooms we were given.” And seeing his raised eyebrow at her, she held his gaze unflinchingly. “I need to speak with you, and it’s best if our conversation doesn’t happen in public.”

Taking her leave graciously, Arturia then left the hall with Gilgamesh, almost having to drag him out because he still had his eyes narrowed at Shirou, who in his opinion was far too close to their daughter.

As soon as they reached their bedroom, she closed the door, leaning against it. She took a deep breath.

“Gilgamesh, you need to stop being so controlling and possessive around Rin,” she bluntly began, her eyes firm on his. “She’s not a child anymore. Besides, you may dislike Shirou as much as you want, but he cares a great deal about _her_ and he’s true and honest towards her.”

Gilgamesh gritted his teeth.

“He is a _lowly_ mong–”

“That’s _enough_ ,” she interrupted him, harshly. “You can’t keep labelling any person our daughter comes in contact with as a mongrel, or a fool, or an idiot. If they were really like that, do you think that Rin would be naïve enough to spend time with them?” Her voice turned a bit gentler. “I know why you are so strict on this subject – but it’s been years now, and it wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

They were both silent for a while, their thoughts back on the few years after Rin’s birth.

It had not been easy to conceive and it had been a difficult pregnancy, even though things had turned out smoothly in the end; however, afterwards, Arturia had had three miscarriages, the last one almost taking her life. Gilgamesh had spent days at the hospital, with little Rin crying in his arms, not knowing whether or not his precious wife was going to survive due to the heavy blood loss.

Rin was their only child, born after many hardships, and Arturia had been on the verge of death only because they had tried to have other kids; it was no surprise that Gilgamesh had become overprotective of his wife and daughter.

But while it was understandable and even sweet in some ways, there had to be limits.

Gilgamesh did not give in, but his tight expression seemed to distend slightly, as he reluctantly acknowledged that his beloved Arturia was right.

“I can tolerate his presence, I suppose,” he conceded after a rather prolonged silence. “His attentiveness towards Rin has its merits, although it’s not enough to make him any less of a mongrel.”

Arturia frowned slightly, and she observed him carefully. Strangely enough, she seemed to hesitate.

“Gilgamesh, I believe you should give him a little more credit than that,” was her objection.

He looked at her with both eyebrows raised. It was very much like Arturia to calm him down and convince him to reconsider things, but it was uncommon for her to openly try to make him change his mind on something.

“Arturia, what is this about?”

He knew that there was something that he wasn’t going to like when she averted her eyes briefly. It was just a split second, and then she met his gaze again, but he didn’t miss it.

“All I’m saying is that you can’t keep Rin in a golden cage forever. I know, and she knows, that you want to protect her, but you need to understand when you exaggerate with your behaviour.”

A deep frown appeared on his face as he considered her words. There was obviously still something she wasn’t telling him, and she was well aware that he had noticed by now.

She came closer to him, the look on her face solemn.

“Gilgamesh, please take this information without exploding. Rin is thinking about getting married.”

There were a few seconds of silence, just barely above a couple of heartbeats. Then Gilgamesh’s face paled in violent fury.

His fists clenched at his sides, and he hissed, “I shall _kill_ him, behead him and burn his body–!”

“You will do _no_ such thing!” Arturia shouted, knowing very well that he was completely serious in his threats. “Now listen to me – _listen to me_ , Gilgamesh!”

She grabbed his arms firmly, her hold still secure even though she wasn’t as young anymore, and attempted to make him look at her. But his gaze was too lost in the distance, his anger rising with each passing second.

“Such a marriage will never happen!” he growled darkly, breaking free from her hold and taking a step towards the door, ready to make true of his promised decapitation of Shirou.

But Arturia stopped him by coming to stand in front of him, ready to face him.

“Think of what you are doing!” she growled right back at him. “This is _Rin_ we are talking about!”

“ _Exactly_ ,” he replied, rage still burning in his eyes. “She’s my daughter, and as such, I expect her to act maturely, and therefore I’m _not_ going to allow her to do something as foolish as marrying that mongrel!”

“You know that she cares about him, and probably even loves him!” Arturia shot back, frustrated.

His reply was ice-cold, his glare equally freezing.

“Love is not contemplated in this decision.”

His wife’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and her entire countenance turned as cold as his.

“May I remind you, my dear husband,” her voice was steely, “that you defied your parents’ orders just in order to marry for love?” Her gaze sharpened, her tone became frostily cutting. “Are you saying that you regret doing that?”

As if by magic, his anger seemed to evaporate, and his acknowledgement was immediate.

“I most certainly do not. Marrying you is by far the best thing that happened in my life.” His eyes narrowed as well though. “Our child, however, is another matter entirely. You can’t expect her to have yet enough sense to know what is truly best for her.”

“Gilgamesh – you are really going too far now.” Her voice changed, a hint of gentleness creeping into her tone, and she took a few steps forward, to stand right in front of him, their bodies almost touching. “First of all, you have no right to forbid Rin from getting married to anyone she wants, and in this case, a person she loves. Second, we were only three years older than she is now when we got married, and we defied our parents’ desires. It fractured our families, and it took us years to heal that breach. I don’t want our daughter to go through the same.”

Coming even closer to him, her hand went to touch his arm, in a familiar and deeply caring gesture. “And lastly… I think you might be underestimating her. You always claim that Rin got the best of us both, and you know that she is a sensible girl. I’m certain that she knows what she’s doing.”

He stared at her, his expression still hard.

“I don’t doubt her intelligence, but her experience,” he finally replied, his tone reluctant and slow. “We weren’t much older than her when we got married, yes, but it was completely different for us, and you know that. We had both secure jobs, we had been together for over six years and gone through several quarrels and rough fights yet still knowing that they were not enough to stop us from wanting to be together. We _knew_ we didn’t want to be separated for the rest of our lives.”

He leaned forward, burying his face in her hair for a moment, and she pulled him to her, their love not having faded but having instead been strengthened after all their years together.

When he met her eyes again, he growled, his tone lowering. “Rin isn’t ready for a commitment like marriage. And that pathetic mongrel _doesn’t deserve her_.”

“They’ve known each other for a few years now,” Arturia attempted, knowing that he wasn’t going to share her point of view until he calmed down, at least slightly. “Trust our daughter–”

“She is making a mistake, and I will _not_ watch her make it without intervening!”

“Let me finish,” she interjected, and even as his eyes flashed, he did not interrupt his wife again. “Gilgamesh, you should trust our daughter’s judgement and her capabilities to make her own choices.”

She took a swift breath, before giving an unexpected, small smile. “That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t give her your _advice_.”

Another brief silence followed, during which he narrowed his eyes, but she continued, both straightforward and gentle, “You are renowned for your bluntness, and take pride in it. While Rin has mentioned to me in passing her desire to get married, she hasn’t made up her mind yet. Once she comes to convey her decision to us, you have every right to tell her your thoughts about it.”

She narrowed her eyes as well, giving him an arch look. “Without killing anyone though.”

…

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…


	2. The sound of warm waves in a shore somewhere out of sight

…

...

…

“Mum, Dad, may I speak with you?”

Arturia exhaled, having expected this to happen, and gave her daughter a small smile.

“Of course, Rin. Shall we go to the living room?”

Gilgamesh nodded at them both as Rin assented, and all three sat down, Arturia next to her husband with their child in front of them. Privately, Arturia was grateful that they were having this conversation without Shirou present, as she knew that Gilgamesh didn’t feel anything less than contempt towards the boy.

Rin cleared her throat briefly, before going directly to the point.

“Some days ago I mentioned to you, Mum, that I was thinking about getting married.”

From the corner of her eye, Arturia noticed her husband making an effort to remain collected, and she also noticed Rin staring at him in wary bewilderment, obviously having expected him to explode instead.

However, much to the girl’s astonishment, he simply made a small gesture with his hand. “Go on.”

Clearly relieved, Rin sat a little straighter and began again, “I’ve thought a little more about it, and I think I would rather wait.” Not giving her parents the time to take in her words, she went on, a little excitement creeping in her tone, “I’ve received several very good job offers after those articles I wrote during the past months, and I am considering becoming a freelance reporter. I don’t think studies fit me very well,” she scrunched her nose slightly, “and after reading my articles, a television show in the capital has made me an offer, to become their correspondent.”

She paused, eyeing the two adults critically, and then said, cautiously, “I intend to accept, and therefore move to the capital. When I first started to consider this, I also began to look around for a small apartment up for rent, and I realized… that I actually didn’t think of Shirou in this, nor does it seem the right time to move in with him in a new city, or live with him in the first place. Which means,” she was reluctant to admit this, it was plain to see, “that I still need time before thinking of a serious commitment. Shirou doesn’t agree with this point of view, but he respects it.”

She paused again, before briefly uttering, “At this point, all I want to focus on is my possible career.”

She looked at her parents anxiously, making them realize that while she wasn’t asking a question directly, she was earnestly expecting to hear their thoughts on the matter.

Arturia made sure to keep her expression composed, and briefly glanced in Gilgamesh’s direction. Wordlessly, she gave him the message that she wanted him to talk first. Rin seemed to really care about their opinions, and as Gilgamesh was usually the one who had the most difficult ones to deal with, it was best to let him get them out first. Besides, she had seen her husband deep in thought more than once during the past few days, therefore she suspected he had quite a bit to say.

Her suspicions were correct, for he read her unspoken request in her eyes, nodding at her almost imperceptibly, and then he stared straight at Rin.

“First of all,” he started, his voice sounding oddly normal, “you should know that I will not tolerate interruptions until I’m done.”

At that, Rin tensed, obviously reminded of the heated fights she had had with her father during her early teenage years, and knowing that this meant that he was serious.

Gilgamesh’s words were direct, not holding back anything as he told her exactly what he thought.

“I don’t like Shirou, and I never did,” he bluntly informed her. “He isn’t mature enough, neither as a person in general, nor to be with you. You are both indeed young, but _you_ are not as foolish. Aside from that, he doesn’t seem to make you particularly happy, although,” his mouth twisted slightly, “on this, I will acknowledge that I wasn’t able to observe you together very often, as he rightfully steers clear of me.”

He gave her a pointed look. “You mentioned marriage, and on that, I have even more to say. If it’s something you want to take seriously, know that it’s not a flippant joke. Of course divorce exists, but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be proper and suitable thinking before recklessly jumping into it.”

There was a strange change in his expression, and Rin was flabbergasted at the sudden warmth in his tone, while Arturia fought hard to control her own expression, as she wished for nothing better than smile fondly at her husband. Or kiss him. Or even both.

“Therefore, I’m extremely pleased that you are showing to be mature and responsible by giving it indeed careful consideration. I can only hope that you will consider the person you marry carefully as well, although it’s true that it must be someone who is good for you, not necessarily,” his eyes narrowed in displeasure, and it was clear that he was struggling and fighting with himself to get the words out, “not necessarily someone I approve of.”

Seeing the absolutely incredulous look Rin was giving him, he stiffly deigned to explain, carefully avoiding glancing at Arturia, “Your mother mentioned this, which, while extremely unpleasant, is still a fact.”

Switching forward to the next topic, he continued, “I’m not particularly happy with the idea of you moving out of home, but I’m aware,” there was such a fond light in his eyes that Rin almost gaped, “that you are committed to your work and will use your brain to the best of your abilities. You are capable of making it, therefore I intend… to support this choice of yours.” His eyes held a strange look. “Even though I’m going to miss you.”

At this point, Rin had tears gathering in her eyes. She threw herself forward, taking her father aback by landing on him, hugging him and sobbing into his shoulder.

As soon as the surprise faded, a strangely gentle look appeared into his eyes, and he returned the hug, holding his daughter in his arms. She didn’t pull back for a long while, but when she did, she was smiling brightly through the tears. She looked at her mother.

“You didn’t say anything until now, Mum,” she hiccupped, and Arturia chuckled lightly, leaning forward for a simple gesture that was common between her and her daughter, a kiss to the forehead.

“I’m proud of you, Rin,” was all she said, but the emotion in her eyes was sincere and reassuring, and Rin jumped to embrace her as well, too overwhelmed to be able to add anything else.

…

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	3. I am going to look for the gem inside the water

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At the train station, watching their daughter leave had been hard.

There seemed to be an endless list of recommendations to make and in the end, exasperated, Rin had told them that in case they forgot to remind her of something, they could always call or text her whenever they wanted.

Then she had hugged them one last time, before waving and stepping onto the train.

Watching the train depart, Arturia suddenly grabbed for Gilgamesh’s hand, and he curled it around hers, protectively.

Their daughter was an adult now, and she was leaving to start her career and her life on her own. It seemed that so little time had passed since she had been a little baby and they had held her in their arms.

She had been a rather danger-prone child, and she had had a series of small accidents that always left her with plasters somewhere on her body, especially once they had started to introduce her to sports. They had realized that, as parents, it was difficult, as every small incident – whatever it may be – was much more worrying for them than for their daughter. When she got bruises or scrapes, for example by falling off her bicycle, she usually laughed it off, or cried for a while before already being around and jumping a short while later. On the parents, it was much harder; but they wouldn’t have given up on having a daughter, not for anything in the world.

Gilgamesh turned to look at his wife, and Arturia gave him a small smile. They had both hit an important milestone in their lives just a few years before, when they had turned fifty, and they had now been married for almost thirty years.

Even if they had not had a grown-up daughter they had just seen off, there were other signs to remind them of the inexorable passing of time. Arturia’s blonde hair was intermingled with abundant silver-grey locks, while Gilgamesh’s was more white than blond nowadays. They weren’t as agile as when they had been younger, and their faces had more and more wrinkles with each passing year.

However, they were both pleased with how their aging reflected the way they had spent their youth. The wrinkles on Arturia’s face were mostly around her eyes, indicating that she was used to smiling unexpectedly often. If someone had known Gilgamesh when he was younger and had met him now, they would have been astounded at the change there had been in his usually haughty expression, because while still imposing, he had a much calmer look when glancing around.

Time had passed, they had aged and changed, but it didn’t mean that those changes had necessarily been bad.

Watching the train gain speed and disappear in the distance – taking their daughter to the beginning of her next step in life – was most certainly one of those changes that couldn’t be labelled as bad.

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End file.
